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Tiago Rodrigues discusses the things holding Wi-Fi back and the breakthroughs poised to fix them
For years, the Wi-Fi industry has focused heavily on faster speeds and new generations of technology. But according to Tiago Rodrigues, CEO of the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA), the biggest frustrations users experience today aren’t always about throughput — they’re about coverage and latency. Speaking on an episode of Unmuted, Rodrigues said many consumers still expect Wi-Fi to work seamlessly everywhere, whether at home, in the office, or in public spaces. In reality, weak coverage zones remain one of the most common pain points.
“Many times… we expect not optimal coverage everywhere,” he explained, adding that poor signal often leads devices to operate “on the edge of the network,” creating inconsistent performance and user frustration.
Latency, he noted, is closely tied to this issue. When coverage is weak, devices struggle to maintain stable connections, resulting in delays that impact video calls, gaming, and emerging immersive applications. Rodrigues pointed to a familiar example: smartphones automatically connecting to weak Wi-Fi networks in places like parking lots, pulling users off cellular service even when the Wi-Fi experience is worse. This, he said, highlights the need for the industry to rethink when devices should connect at all.
On the technology front, Rodrigues emphasized that improvements are already underway. In residential environments, mesh and multi-access point (multi-AP) systems have become a “gigantic step forward,” offering consumers an easy way to expand coverage throughout the home. In enterprise networks, newer Wi-Fi standards are delivering major advances in coordinated scheduling, traffic optimization, and multi-link operation — particularly with Wi-Fi 7. These capabilities allow devices to make better use of spectrum across the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz bands, helping reduce congestion and improve responsiveness.
Rodrigues also underscored the importance of the 6 GHz band, calling it a critical resource as device density continues to explode. He noted that a household that once had “four, five, six devices” may now support 40 or more.
Finally, Rodrigues urged policymakers and the broader tech ecosystem to recognize Wi-Fi’s central role in the digital economy. Citing research that 90% of smartphone data traffic travels over Wi-Fi, he argued that wireless connectivity discussions must treat Wi-Fi as foundational infrastructure. “Wi-Fi is the baseline infrastructure that gives… the huge broader digital economy connectivity,” he said.
Watch the full interview for more.
